Joyal authorized to sign letter of intent for aquatic center

DOVER — The City Council passed a resolution Wednesday night authorizing City Manager Michael Joyal to sign a letter of intent for the Jenny Thompson Aquatic Center.

The vote, according to Councilor Michael Crago, is to allow the council to “take this to the next level,” allowing the Seacoast Swimming Association to go forth with plans and begin fundraising to build the 47,000-square-foot facility, which will hold both a 50-meter indoor pool and a training pool.

The letter of intent, according to Councilor Karen Weston, is very important, giving Seacoast Swimming Association the ability to continue with its plans and move on to step number two, fundraising, after the group made its presentation to the council earlier this month.

“Fundraising is going to be a difficult time for them,” Weston said, referring to the economy. “But, these folks are made of a different skin. They are really hard workers.”

Weston added that the current pools in Dover are going to need major renovations if the city chooses to keep running them.

“It (the JTAC) would be a win-win for the city, so we need to give the city manager capability to give these folks the ability to go out and fundraise, and that is exactly what this (resolution) does,” Weston said.

This empowers the city manager, Crago said. “The City of Dover, citizens of Dover are serious about this, let's see if we can figure this out together.”

Councilor Catherine Cheney was the only councilor to oppose the resolution, with Councilor Weeden abstaining from voting altogether.

“I don't believe that we should be funding, or giving our taxpayer dollars to a private organization to start a corporation in the City of Dover,” Cheney said, claiming the JTAC would be a tax vacuum.

Before Wednesday night's meeting, Tim Paiva of Seacoast Swimming Association continued to state the aquatic center would not be built with taxpayers' money. Jared Felker of Seacoast Swimming Association said the city would actually be paying less than it does now for the public pools because maintenance will no longer be their responsibility.

Weston responded to Cheney's concerns, urging her to take a step back and look at the big picture.

“These people are going to earn and bond every single penny themselves,” she said. “All this (resolution) is doing is letting them go out and try to get some funds for this initiative.”

“The notion that we are giving away city property and taxpayers dollars is absolutely and totally incorrect,” Weston said.

While Deputy Mayor Robert Carrier echoed Weston, stating the resolution before them was simply a blessing for the organization to take a harder look at the possibility of the facility, he noted it is very possible the study may find they “have to pull the plug” on the idea.

“We will protect the city,” Carrier said. “We will. We are not going to be foolish about this.”